UK Water Restrictions & Hosepipe Bans 2026

All 2025 hosepipe bans lifted:

No current Temporary Use Bans apply in England or Wales. However, fourteen water companies remained classified in "drought" or "prolonged dry weather" status as of November 2025. South East Water has publicly stated that its Ardingly reservoir "will not fully recover" even with a full winter rainfall — a signal that South East is the highest-risk company for new TUBs in summer 2026.

The official name for a UK hosepipe ban is a Temporary Use Ban (TUB), declared under Section 76 of the Water Industry Act 1991. Only water companies can declare a TUB — not councils, not the national government, not Ofwat. The declaration must be advertised in two local newspapers circulating in the affected area, and the company's website must carry the notice.

What a TUB bans:

• Watering gardens or plants with a hosepipe
• Filling or topping up paddling pools, hot tubs, and ornamental ponds
• Washing cars, buildings, patios, or decking with a hosepipe
• Cleaning windows with a hosepipe (except for commercial window-cleaning businesses in most cases)
• Filling or topping up swimming pools (with some exceptions for competition pools)

What stays allowed during a TUB:

• Watering plants with a bucket or watering can — always permitted
• Hosepipe use for direct commercial purposes (e.g., washing a commercial vehicle)
• Customers on the Priority Services Register with medical equipment needs
• Drip irrigation and soaker hoses for garden plants (varies by company)

The maximum fine for breaching a TUB is £1,000 per violation. Water companies can also apply to the Secretary of State for a drought order, which enables stricter penalties and broader restrictions (including limits on commercial water use).

High risk: South East Water (Ardingly reservoir unlikely to fully recover); Anglian Water (two supply areas below full recovery as of March 2026).

Medium risk: Thames Water (lessons from the 2025 Oxfordshire/Wiltshire TUB that affected parts of the Thames basin).

Lower risk: United Utilities (North West), Severn Trent (Midlands), Northumbrian Water (North East).

Summer 2025 was the hottest on record since continuous weather records began in 1884. Spring 2025 was the driest in 132 years, setting the stage for the hosepipe bans that followed. The UK government has responded by approving nine new reservoirs as part of long-term resilience infrastructure — the first major reservoir-building programme in three decades. A new national Water Efficiency Campaign is scheduled to launch in spring 2026.

UK lawn grasses are primarily cool-season species — Perennial Ryegrass, Fescue blends, and Bent grass. Each has different drought tolerance and different survival strategies under a TUB:

• Perennial Ryegrass: the most common UK lawn grass. Goes semi-dormant in summer drought; crowns survive even with full browning. Water with cans before 9am during a TUB if you want to keep it green. Allow some browning — the lawn will recover fully with autumn rain.
• Fescue blends (Red Fescue, Chewings, Hard Fescue): more drought-tolerant than Ryegrass thanks to deeper roots. Half an inch (12 mm) every 14 days keeps Fescue alive during a TUB, delivered by watering can.
• Bent grass (Agrostis): the grass used on cricket squares, bowling greens, and premium sports surfaces. Most vulnerable to drought of the common UK grasses. Keeping Bent grass alive through a TUB is effectively impossible for amateurs; accept the loss and reseed in autumn.

Universal UK lawn tips during a TUB: raise the mower to 50–60 mm; stop feeding entirely; water deeply but rarely (rather than little and often); buckets and watering cans are always allowed and should be used in the early morning (before 9am) for maximum water efficiency.